ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Finance
DRI seizes 5.480 kg Heroin worth Rs. 38.36 crore approx. in international market value of from Integrated Check Point, Attari, Amritsar
In its endeavor to curb drug trafficking, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence  unearthed a novel modus operandi of heroin smuggling into India through the land route at India-Pakistan border. Based on specific intelligence developed and further profiling by DRI officers, a consignment of brooms was intercepted at Integrated Check Post, Attari, Amritsar. On examination, 5.480 kg of recovered Heroin valued at Rs 38.36 crore in the international market was seized yesterday.
In the consignment of 4,000 pieces of brooms in 40 bags, the heroin was stealthily filled in 442 hollow short pieces/sticks of river cane/bamboo  with ends of such sticks artificially sealed and such sticks were further concealed/camouflaged by being placed/packed inside “Afghan Brooms” which were tied up with iron wire on the outside.
The cargo consignment of “Afghan Brooms” from Afghanistan was imported by an Afghan National with fake Indian IDs in connivance with his Indian national wife. The said Afghan national was out on bail granted in earlier NDPS case booked by Delhi Police in 2018. Both, the Afghan National and his wife were arrested under NDPS Act, 1985. Further, follow up action and investigations to unearth the entire conspiracy and smuggling module and to gather evidence are being conducted.
Ministry of Home Affairs
26,786 Long Term Visas granted to Foreigners, including 25,782 from Minority Communities in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2019: Shri Nityanand Rai
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to questions regarding visas to minorities from neighbouring countries, in Lok Sabha today, said that Long Term Visa  is granted to the following categories of persons of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan coming to India on valid travel documents i.e. valid passport and valid visa, and seeking permanent settlement in India with a view to acquire Indian citizenship:-
- Members of minority communities in Bangladesh/ Afghanistan/ Pakistan, namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.
- Bangladesh/ Pakistan women married to Indian nationals and staying in India; or Afghanistan nationals married to Indian nationals in India and staying in India.
- Indian origin women holding Bangladesh/ Afghanistan/ Pakistan nationality married to Bangladesh/ Afghanistan/ Pakistan nationals and returning to India due to widowhood/ divorce and having no male members to support them in Bangladesh/ Afghanistan/ Pakistan.
- Cases involving extreme compassion.
The Minister stated that LTV has been granted to 26,786 such foreigners from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2019, after their arrival in India. Of these, 25,782 persons belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been granted LTV in the same period, after their arrival in India. There is no specific provision for grant of such LTV to minorities from Sri Lanka.
Shri Rai also informed the House that the Government has extended various facilities to such persons living in India on LTV. These include grant of LTV for a period of 5 years at a time, allowing children of such LTV holders to take admission in schools, colleges, universities, technical/professional institutions etc. without any specific permission from the State Government/UT Administration, permitting them to engage in employment in private sector, purchase of dwelling unit & accommodation for carrying out self employment, Re-entry  to go to their native country/third country, allowing free movements within the State/UT, reduction of penalty on non-extension of LTV on time, opening of bank accounts, issuance of Driving License, PAN card and Aadhaar number etc.
The Minister also stated that the Citizenship  Act, 2019 facilitates grant of citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan who have entered India on or before 31.12.2014 and who have been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause  of sub-section  of section 3 of the Passport  Act, 1920 or from the application of provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule / order made there-under.
Ministry of Culture
‘Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of the Himalayas’ protects and preserves the cultural heritage of Himalayan region
Ministry of Culture administers a financial grant scheme by the name of ‘Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of the Himalayas’ for the purpose of promoting, protecting and preserving the cultural heritage of Himalayan region spreading in Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh through research, documentation, dissemination etc. Under this scheme, financial assistance is provided to the Voluntary Organizations including Colleges and Universities for study and research on cultural heritage, preservation of old manuscripts, literature, art & crafts and documentation of cultural activities/ events like music & dance, dissemination through audio-visual programmes of art and culture and training in traditional and folk art. The quantum of funding is Rs.10.00 lakhs per year for an organization. The Expert Advisory Committee  on the scheme is empowered to recommend the amount beyond the maximum limit but not exceeding Rs.30.00 lakhs from this scheme. The said scheme is a Central Sector Scheme and no funds are released directly to the State Governments.
Ministry of Culture administers a specific Financial Grant Scheme by the name of ‘Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Development of Buddhist/ Tibetan Culture and Art’ to give financial assistance to the voluntary Buddhist/Tibetan organizations including Monasteries engaged in the propagation and scientific development of Buddhist/Tibetan culture, tradition and research in related fields. This scheme is applicable throughout the country including the Himalayan Region.
The information was given by Minister of Culture, Tourism And Development Of North Eastern Region Shri G. Kishan Reddy in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Goa to be Developed as Cargo Hub- Suresh Prabhu
Central government in the collaboration with state government and private partners is working on to promote Goa as a tourism destination as well as a cargo hub, stated Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Suresh Prabhu. He was addressing media persons at Dabolim Airport, Goa after the inspection of ongoing renovation work. Union Minister of State for AYUSH  Shri Shripad Naik, State Agriculture Minister Shri Vijai Sardesai, Revenue Minister Shri Rohan Khaunte and Transport Minister Shri Sudin Dhavalikar were also on the occasion. Mopa airport will commence operations by September 2020. Dabolim Airport will continue to remain operational along with Mopa said, Shri Prabhu.
The renovation work worth Rs 300 crore is going on at Dabolim airport, by July, new multi-layer parking complex will be operationalized. At Dabolim airport, one counter shall be allocated to Goa Tourism Department to operate taxi services and one counter will be allocated to the state government for sale of local products, souvenirs, and vegetables. Transportation of cargo will help farmers access international market, said Shri Suresh Prabhu. When Goa will have two airports passenger handling capacity will increase to 3 crores, he further added.
Under the Skill Development and Startup India initiative, Civil Aviation Ministry is in talks with the representatives of World Bank and other major institutions to promote Goa as a market destination, informed Shri Prabhu. Major Airlines like Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines are interested to be part of market destinations in India. There is a huge job requirement in civil aviation ministry and other sectors also. These initiatives are imperative in the overall development of the State.
Prime Minister's Office
PM to interact with healthcare workers and beneficiaries of Covid vaccination program in Himachal Pradesh on 6th September
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will interact with healthcare workers and beneficiaries of Covid vaccination program in Himachal Pradesh on 6th September, 2021 at 11 AM via video conferencing.
Himachal Pradesh has successfully covered its entire eligible population with the first dose of Covid vaccination. The efforts by the state included geographical prioritization to focus on difficult terrains, initiatives to ensure mass awareness, and door to door visits by ASHA workers, among others. The state gave special attention to women, elderly, divyangjans, industrial workers, daily wagers etc. and undertook special campaigns like “Suraksha ki Yukti – Corona se Mukti” to attain this milestone.
Chief Minister of Himachal will be present during the event.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Road accidents parameters register a significant decline in 2020 , Total accidents decrease on an average by 18.46 per cent, number of persons killed decrease by 12.84 per cent
Road accidents parameters registered a significant decline in 2020 compared to 2019. Total accidents decreased on an average by 18.46 per cent, the number of persons killed decreased by 12.84 per cent and the number of injures decreased by 22.84 per cent over previous year’s average. A total of 3,66,138 road accidents have been reported by States and Union Territories  during the calendar year 2020, which claimed 1,31,714 lives and caused 3, 48,279 injuries.
As per report ‘Road accidents in India — 2020’, prepared by Transport Research Wing  of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways , the number of road accidents has been on decline since 2016 except for a marginal increase of 0.46 per cent in 2018. For the second consecutive year, the total number of road accidents fatalities has declined in 2020. Similarly, the number of persons injured has been on the decline since 2015.
For the third consecutive year in 2020, the fatal road accident victims largely constitute young people in the productive age groups. Young adults in the age group of 18 - 45 years accounted for 69 per cent of victims during 2020. People in the working age group of 18 – 60 years share 87.4 per cent of total road accident fatalities.
The present volume of ‘Road accidents in India — 2020’ provides information on various facets of road accidents in the country during the calendar year 2020. It has ten sections and covers information relating to road accidents in the context of road length and vehicular population. Data/information provided in this report is sourced from police departments of States/Union Territories collected on calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific  under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data  base project.
As per report, there has also been a decline in the number of fatal accidents, i.e., accident involving at least one death. A total of 1, 20,806 fatal accidents were reported in 2020, which is 12.23 per cent lower than the 2019 figure of 1, 37,689. Interestingly, during 2020, National Highways, State Highways and Other Roads reported less number of accidents, fatalities and injuries as compared to previous year.
Major States that achieved significant reduction in road accident in 2020 are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. And the major States that achieved significant reduction in road accident fatalities in 2020 are Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
Special Service and Features
NABARD Celebrates 41st Foundation Day
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development  celebrated its 41st Foundation Day on 12 July 2022 and Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Hon’ble Finance Minister was the Chief Guest of the function. Hon’ble Finance Minister appreciated the contribution of NABARD in the last four decades and highlighted various activities and assistance given by NABARD in Tamil Nadu State. He gave away awards for FPOs, Banks, Project Implementing Agencies , Government Departments implementing Rural Infrastructure projects under NABARD assistance. Minister inaugurated “Bank on wheels” of Kancheepuram DCCB on the occasion and also inaugurated FPO stalls and interacted with farmers about income levels and services to farmers through FPOs. The meeting was addressed by Tmt. Uma Sankar, CGM, RBI, Shri Partha Pratim Sengupta, MD & CEO of IOB, Shri Shanti Lal Jain, MD & CEO of Indian Bank who appreciated various contributions of NABARD in the last four decades. Dr. V Geethalakshmi, VC, TNAU presented on climate resilient agriculture practices for food security in Tamil Nadu.
Shri T. Venkatakrishna, CGM, NABARD presented journey of NABARD in the last four decades and highlighted refinance support under various funds for rural infrastructure in Tamil Nadu State. Glimpses of various developmental initiatives of NABARD benefitting farmers were presented. Financial assistance by NABARD in Tamil Nadu reached a new high of Rs. 32,443 crore in FY’22 up from Rs.27,135 crore in the previous year, a growth of 20%. For Rural Infrastructure Rs.3,111 crore of projects sanctioned in FY’22 .
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Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Monthly Passes for Toll Plazas at National Highways
User fee on National Highways is being collected as per the National Fee Rules and also as per the respective Concession Agreement. As per National Highways Fee  Rules, 2008, a driver, owner or person in-charge of mechanical vehicle who makes use of the section of national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel may opt for discounted fee to cross a fee plaza for maximum fifty journey for one month from date of payment and has to pay two-third of amount of the fee payable. Discounts in user fee are also available in the form of monthly passes as per the applicable National Highways Fee Rules and also as per the respective Concession Agreement. As per National Highways Fee  Rules, 2008, a person who owns a mechanical vehicle registered for non-commercial purposes and uses it as such for commuting on a section of national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel may obtain a pass, on payment of fee at the base rate for the year 2007-2008 of rupees one hundred and fifty per calendar month and revised annually in accordance with fee rule, authorising it to cross the fee plaza specified in such pass provided that such pass shall be issued only if such driver, owner and person in charge of such mechanical vehicle resides within a distance of twenty kilometers from the fee plaza. No such concession and pass is issued if fees is levied based on the closed user fee collection system and also if a service road or alternative road is available for the use by such driver, owner or person in charge of mechanical vehicle.
As per National Highways Fee Rules, 2008, a person who owns a mechanical vehicle registered for non-commercial purposes and uses it as such for commuting on a section of national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel may obtain a pass, on payment of fee at the rate of rupees three hundred and fifteen for the financial Year 2022-23. Such pass shall be issued only if such driver, owner and person in charge of such mechanical vehicle resides within a distance of twenty kilometers from the fee plaza.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Draft Notification issued for Vehicle Tracking System Device
It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways that vehicles, which are not under the ambit of national permit, carrying various gases, viz Argon, Nitrogen, Oxygen etc, and goods of dangerous or hazardous nature are not fitted with Vehicle Tracking System devices.
Accordingly, Ministry of Road and Transport and Highways, vide draft notification dated 15th February, 2022, has proposed that every goods carriage vehicle, carrying any dangerous or hazardous goods, shall be equipped with or fitted with a vehicle tracking system device as per Automotive Industry Standard 140.
Comments and suggestions have been invited from stakeholders within a period of thirty days.
Click the link for the Gazette Notification
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Ministry of Cooperation
Model Cooperative Villages
Giving a reply to a Written Question on ‘Model Cooperative Villages’ in the Lok Sabha today, the Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah said, the Model Cooperative Village  programme is being jointly implemented by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development  and the Gujarat State Cooperative Bank  Ltd. It was launched on 10th April, 2022 at Bavla village of Ahmedabad district in Gujarat. The programme is also being piloted in six selected villages of Gujarat, which are Adroda & Rethal , Adaraj Moti & Isanpur Mota , Pipero  and Kolithad , by NABARD in close coordination with various stakeholders.
The aim of the MCV programme is to create ‘Atmanirbhar Gaon’ through the vision of ‘Sahakaar se Samridhi’, he said. The objective is to adopt a Primary Agricultural Credit Societies  centric, household-oriented approach to ensure provision of livelihood opportunities to at least two members of each household, aiming at enhancing the production per unit per establishment. Implementation of the programme in other States would be considered by NABARD after studying the outcome of the pilot projects in Gujarat, he added.
NABARD is playing a pivotal role in coordination between different stakeholders such as Government of Gujarat, Cooperative Banks , Community Based Organizations , etc. in facilitating saturation of all possible eligible schemes and initiatives of the Government and other stakeholders, the Cooperation Minister said.
Ministry of Earth Sciences
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial
India participated in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial  meeting, jointly organised by Iceland and Japan and virtually hosted by Japan, for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic. Minister of State  for Ministry of Science & technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Shri Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha today in a written reply that the then Minister of the Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan led the Indian team, with Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Scientists from MoES and NCPOR as participants in the meeting.
India plan to launch NISER  satellite, a joint ISRO-NASA mission, with the goal to make global measurement of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar  has not been launched yet. NISER is proposed to be launched in early 2023.
NISAR is a joint Earth-Observation mission between ISRO and NASA for global observations over all land masses including Polar cryosphere and Indian Ocean region. It is a dual band  Radar imaging mission with capability of full polarimetric and interferometric modes of operation to observe minor changes in land, vegetation and cryosphere. NASA is developing L-band SAR and associated systems and ISRO is developing S-band SAR, spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle and associated launch services. The major scientific objectives of the mission are to improve understanding of the impact of climate change on Earth’s changing Ecosystems, land and coastal processes, land deformations and Cryosphere.
Ministry of Finance
Government sets up 24 centres in Mumbai to increase coverage of PM SVANidhi Yojana
Mumbai: 6 December 2022
Union Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Bhagwat Karad took a meeting to review campaign to increase coverage of PM SVANidhi Yojana in Mumbai on 5 December, 2022. Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, Additional Commissioner Asheesh Sharma and Executive Directors of various banks attended the meeting at BMC headquarters, Mumbai.
To provide handholding support to street vendors, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs  launched PM SVANidhi a micro credit scheme, facilitating a working capital collateral-free loan of ₹10,000, with subsequent loans of ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 with 7% interest subsidy.
Addressing the media persons after the meeting, the Minister of State of Finance informed that 24 centres have been set up in Mumbai under the guidance of BMC commissioner in order to spread awareness among street vendors about the scheme. “In the last review meeting held on 3rd November 2022, we noticed that efforts to increase coverage of PM SVANidhi scheme in Mumbai need to be amplified. Till date, only 23,000 street vendors from Mumbai have been registered under the scheme, which is quite low for the city.”
The Union Minister further said that these centres will have bank representatives along with BMC officials who would reach out to small vendors in the vicinity and help them with the registration and loan process. “It has been noticed that due to lack of awareness, people do not approach banks for loans. PM SVANidhi scheme is a great initiative towards financial inclusion.”
Sharing the details of the scheme, the MoS, Finance said the PM SVANidhi scheme is based on the idea of ‘Antyoday se Sarvoday’, “Under this scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 10,000 is provided to registered vendors at very low interest rates. By providing financial support to the small vendors in the country, the Central Government wants to free them from the clutches of private money lenders”.
The Union Minister further said that the Ministry has set a target of 1.5 lakh registrations per month. “We have also simplified the process of registration and loan application for benefit of street vendors”.
PM SVANidhi scheme:
The scheme is a Central Sector Scheme i.e. fully funded by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with the following objectives:  To facilitate working capital loan up to Rs 10,000;  To incentivize regular repayment; and  To reward digital transactions. The scheme will help formalize the street vendors with above objectives and will open up new opportunities to this sector to move up the economic ladder.
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